On October 1, 2026, the Black Resilience Network (BRN) returned to the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. for two connected gatherings. This was a partnership between Next Leadership Development and the Brookings Institution In the morning, Community Hub leaders, network members, and partners met for a Rooted in Resilience working session. In the afternoon, Next Leadership Development and the Center for Community Uplift at Brookings co-hosted a public forum: Community-led resilience: Improving disaster preparedness, response, and recovery for Black people and places.
Both gatherings carried the question that has guided the Rooted in Resilience series since Asheville: what does it take for Black communities to build health, wealth, and cultural resilience before the next disaster, not only recover after it?
The Workshop: Community Hubs at the Table
The morning belonged to the people doing the work. Hub representatives from four communities sat with BRN members and partners at tables organized by community: Chicago; St. Louis; Amory and Monroe County, Mississippi; and Asheville, North Carolina. Together they named what their communities are already doing, where support breaks down before, during, and after disasters, and what each table is committing to carry home.
The session was off the record so people could speak plainly. We will share what came out of it with Black Resilience Network members and particiopants first, and with the public as the policy agenda takes shape.
In the meantime, enjoy the videos we shared during the workshop:
All Aces, Inc.'s Integrated Resilience Framework™️ applied to Next Leadership Development's theory of change centered on the Resilience Reserve™️
Black Resilience Network Over the Years: From Inspiration to Infrastructure
The Public Forum: Community-Led Resilience
In the afternoon, guests in the Falk Auditorium and online joined two panels on how community-led networks support long-term resilience, including through health, wealth, and culture, and on a community hubs model for disaster preparedness in Black communities.
Manann Donoghoe of the Center for Community Uplift and Dr. Atyia Martin, founder of Next Leadership Development and a Brookings Metro nonresident senior fellow, opened the program.
Panel One: Community Experiences of Emergency Management, moderated by Dr. Nnenia Campbell (William Averette Anderson Fund), with Tracy Hadley (Love Without Walls), Jasmine E. Moore (Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church), Princess Shaw (Light Up Lawndale), and Kimberly Turner (Law Office of Kimberly Martin Turner LLC).
Panel Two: Translating Community Experiences into Public Policy, moderated by Dr. Nnenia Campbell, with Sanchita Balachandran (Smithsonian Institution), LesLeigh D. Ford (Urban Institute), Dr. Atyia Martin, and Dr. Andre M. Perry (Brookings Metro, Center for Community Uplift), who also gave closing remarks.
Watch the forum on the Brookings event page →
Why Two Gatherings
Disasters do not create the disparities Black communities face. They worsen conditions that were already there. That is why the work has to happen in two places at once: at community tables, where people closest to the issues decide what they need, and in policy rooms, where decisions about preparedness, response, and recovery get made. The morning made sure the afternoon was grounded in what communities actually live.
With Gratitude
Thank you to the Center for Community Uplift at Brookings, to every panelist and moderator, and to the hub representatives and members who traveled to be in the room. The gathering was sponsored by Next Leadership Development and All Aces, Inc.
What Comes Next
Watch the public forum above or on the Brookings event page.
Join the Black Resilience Network. Become a member or sustainer.
Bring Rooted in Resilience to your community. Reach out at brn@nextleads.org.
Support the work. Give to Next Leadership Development.
Read about the first stop in the series: Rooted in Resilience in Asheville.